Dog-Eat-Dog

I was walking through Koreatown on a sunny but blustery Friday and decided to finally try some Korean corn dogs for two reasons: there was a challenger on the block and both businesses were offering deals. The contender was KSeoul Hotdog, taking over from Japanhako near Christie. They had a 1+1 deal so I chose the "ugly potato" dog ($5.98) and a traditional one (regularly $3.98). Unlike North American corn dogs, k-dogs are coated with rice flour instead of corn batter. For the ugly pug, I got garlic mayo and spicy chili while the standard dog got hot mustard and spicy mayo. Both also had sprinkles of sugar as is typical with these Asian imports. They were both good delivery vehicles for messy fried batter though I don't think I'm onboard with the sugar. Unfortunately, the beef wieners didn't have much flavour so eating fried dough palled after awhile.

The top dog was Chungchun Rice Dog at Palmerston, one of several Toronto outposts of a large South Korean franchise. I often see people hanging outside its door, even pre-pandemic, and it was my first inkling that k-dogs have arrived. This week, their veggie dog ($5.99) was on sale for $2.99. It'd be nice to root for the newcomer but the sausage-on-a-stick was better here: crispier glutinous rice coating, and the (faux) meat had taste and even a hint of spiciness. So given their customer base, name brand, and convenient store-front (KSeoul is recessed and up a flight of stairs), Chungchun will likely win this fight.